Perception
by Emily31594
Summary: Chapter 1: The Macabre Glow. A red orb travels through England's skies. Why should it target a secondary school, and who sent it?
1. Chapter 1: A Macabre Glow

Chapter 1: The Macabre Glow

Part 1: School

In the darkness of early morning, a colorful apparition flew through England's skies. It possessed an intense, macabre red glow. If anyone had noticed it, the most probable explanation would have been, perhaps, a shooting star. But as the red orb travelled in the sky toward its destination, it was unobserved by the nation's people. At last, it slowed and settled over a target. The light paused briefly over the roof of a vacant secondary school, burst into bright flames reminiscent of fireworks, and vanished.

Hours later, the school was alive with the sounds and sights of a normal school day. Students and teachers drew out their materials for the first lesson of the day, abuzz with the excitement of the upcoming trip. They would all be on a field trip for the next day and a half, and were leaving from school as soon as the day was over. One boy was not yet in a classroom. Late, as he usually was, he rushed down a hallway, praying that his teachers would miss his tardiness in the excitement of the day.

Part 2: Anxiety

Miles away, in a place that these students would never see, Minister of Magic Kingsley Shacklebolt was worried. This worry was brought on by a seemingly benign note from a low-level ministry official whose job it was to look for any unusual traces of magic in the country. _Small amount of magic reportedly sent over country early this morning. Traces of this seem to disappear above a muggle secondary school that is currently in session. Source unknown. _He placed a quick call in which made him feel slightly more relaxed, and then settled down to wait.

Part 3: Just Work

"Ginny!" Harry called, running from room to room and searching frantically for his wife.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing," he replied, breathlessly turning to face her where she had appeared behind him, "Kingsley needs me to go in to work."

"Alright. How long will you be gone?"

"Don't know," he replied. "He didn't mention what it was about. I'll go see, and then I'll owl you and let you know. If I'm going to be gone overnight, I'll have to come back and pack anyway."

"Be careful," she said.

"Always am," he replied, kissing her quickly.

He turned to apparate and was gone.

_Chapter one of a multi-chapter fic. This is just the intro; following chapters will be longer. Hope you enjoy, and please review. Emily_


	2. Chapter 2: Beginnings

Chapter 2: Beginnings

Part 1: The Situation

"But who would send something to a muggle school?" Harry asked.

Kingsley sighed. "We don't know. All we know is that when ministry workers tried to go inside, they were blocked. In addition, students and teachers are apparently all unable to communicate with the rest of the world. They're supposed to be on a field trip until tomorrow evening, so their parents won't miss them until then, but we need to figure this before the entire country finds out. I have a connection at the local police department. I'd like you to go there, set up a base near the school, and find out what's happening."

"What are we using as a base?"

"Well, we don't have anything in that area, but it turns out that some friends of yours do. We were hoping they would let us use their home for twenty-four hours."

"Wait, this is the school near Ron and Hermione's?"

"Yes. And since you only have until 10:00P.M. tomorrow to solve this, I wonder if you could find assistance from people with experience. I just don't have anyone else to spare right now. And you'd need someone with consider understanding of muggles."

Harry smiled to himself.

"Alright," he agreed.

"I'll be there every couple of hours to check on progress, Harry. Good luck."

Part 2: Team

Harry's first order of business, he thought as he left the Ministry, would be to talk with Ron and Hermione. Hermione, at least, would be awake at this hour. As for Ron…well,

Ron loved his sleep.

At the door, Hermione, who was predictably entirely ready for the day, answered and let him in.

"Morning, Harry. What are you doing here?"

"Actually, I need you guys to help with a case that I just got this morning."

She raised her eyebrows and opened the door more widely. "Come on in. I'll go wake Ron and you can explain."

Harry nodded and followed her into the kitchen.

"Help yourself to anything. I'll grab Ron."

Harry smiled to himself, and looked around the room. He sniffed a pot of coffee, decided it was fresh enough, and poured himself a cup. He was just refilling his glass when Ron and Hermione reappeared, Ron still pulling a shirt over his head.

"So we got a case this morning. Magic was detected over a secondary school early this morning. We can't contact anyone in the school, so the Minister wants me to set up a command post with someone from the local muggle law enforcement office that he knows." He turned and sat with them at the table. "That's where you come in. The school is across the street from here."

"So you want to use our house?" Hermione asked.

Harry smiled at her. "You pick things up fast, don't you. Anyway, we also need your help. We're a little short-staffed at the moment."

"The ministry break-in," Ron said. Harry nodded.

"I'm asking the two of you, and Ginny, to work with me and the local officers to figure this out."

Ron looked at Hermione.

"We're in," she said.

_Thanks for reading. And thanks to reviewers EliseShaw and hollyjaynee._

_Emily_


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